Anyone know why so many pet names are reserved? I'm not using religious names(like god or jesus) or even famous peoples names. But I can't name my pet Gremlin or Swap or Team?? WTF is that all about anyone know?

Seriously blizzard has some of the most Screwed up(to put it Nicely) regulations!!

Seems rather random, doesn't it. As far as I can tell, there must be loads of names on their "blocked" list which are not offensive, trademarked, shared by an existing npc in-game, or have any other obvious reason for them being blocked.

I can only think that some of the reserved names will be used, or are similar to names they want to use for pets in the future. I know when I tried to name my emerald whelpling "Godzooky" it was denied, then of course several months later a new pet appears in-game called Gahz'rooki.

I wish blizzard would tell us why some of these names are reserved. Names like Fawkes i get (dumbledore's phoenix) but others like Simba and Megatron I don't. it can't be because of copyright, because names like Mushu and Unicron still work.

There's a restricted list, but that can't be comprehensive, so the more popular religious and copyrighted names can't be used, but less common names can be.

As far as I can tell, the restrictions are similar to (if not the same as) character naming rules.

On a side note, I don't think Simba can be copywritten, since that's an extremely common name for a lion that you see/hear in old movies and other sources. Of course, it's been extremely popularized by Disney, but it's the word that means lion in Swahili. I wouldn't expect that Disney could copywrite words in other languages, especially common use words/names. It would be like someone copywriting Leo. Of course, I could be wrong and the courts/government could be just that stupid.

Opallena wrote:I wish blizzard would tell us why some of these names are reserved. Names like Fawkes i get (dumbledore's phoenix) but others like Simba and Megatron I don't. it can't be because of copyright, because names like Mushu and Unicron still work.

Tiggindy wrote:On a side note, I don't think Simba can be copywritten, since that's an extremely common name for a lion that you see/hear in old movies and other sources. Of course, it's been extremely popularized by Disney, but it's the word that means lion in Swahili. I wouldn't expect that Disney could copywrite words in other languages, especially common use words/names. It would be like someone copywriting Leo. Of course, I could be wrong and the courts/government could be just that stupid.

I'm not sure if this maybe has any relation but "Simba" is a massive snack-food brand in South Africa (http://www.simba.co.za/) . . . so maybe if a name is a company name then it becomes an issue too?

I noticed the same thing I was trying it name my pet lil bad wolf Gmok after the never ending story and I tried EVERY variation of it. But you can still name your pets Falkor Atreyu, dont know of any brand that uses it either. Itd be nice if there was some clarification.

I tried to name my Jade Crane Chick, Jade... and it was blocked for mature language. I did a search for Jade at a thesaurus website and found out it is used as a synonym for harlot, prostitute and whore.

Agree. The naming restrictions feel arbitrary and a little hypocritical. This is a game that has an achievement called 'four play', and the major joke of the current expansion involves drunk monkeys swearing they're going to 'ook you in the dooker'...

I find that using accent characters appears to be the exact opposite of creative

It depends on the reason! If it's for a character name for example and you can't use it because there's already a character with that name...yes, obviously your name isn't very original Same if you're trying to name a character or pet something actually offensive. If it's just Blizzard's arbitrary restrictions that have no reasoning or logic to them however, alt codes ftw. Like a name with 'the' as part of it for example. There's no real reason we should be denied the use of the word 'the'!

I wouldn't be surprised if Simba was because of Disney, not because it's copyrighted, but just in case it can be. The less likeliness of lawsuits, the better, I would guess. Same with Gremlin and other names. Though my claw I was able to name Thing T Thing and my wife named a mouse Mickey

Demoiselle wrote:Agree. The naming restrictions feel arbitrary and a little hypocritical. This is a game that has an achievement called 'four play', and the major joke of the current expansion involves drunk monkeys swearing they're going to 'ook you in the dooker'...

But I can't name a Crimson Shale Hatchling 'Hot Rock'? Really?

Yeah This is my point exactly This game has npc's modeled/named after pornstars and celebrities and you can use some Very questionable names but you can't name a pet Swap???? Seriously! ......Same old pathetic Blizzard ! The game is truly getting on my nerves with all this petty crap! They're just sooo lucky no one has came out with a game that has as much time and detail put into it as WoW has! Or this game would be dead by now because of all its bugs and petty crap!

Opallena wrote:I wish blizzard would tell us why some of these names are reserved. Names like Fawkes i get (dumbledore's phoenix) but others like Simba and Megatron I don't. it can't be because of copyright, because names like Mushu and Unicron still work.

Fawkes didn't work for me either but I successfully named my Snowy Owl Hedwig.

Viagra is blocked but Cialis isn't. Seems like no rhyme or reason to their thought pattern. I named my toon Sheba but couldn't name my hunter pet Sheba on another toon... I've seen some really obnoxious names on pets (hunter and battle) that shouldn't be allowed but are.